Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 36: A Split

Lily was woken early the next morning by shouts coming from the common room. She was a rather light sleeper and so was not surprised to see that her roommates were not bothered by the noise. She crept quickly out of the room and hurried down the stairs to find the source of the commotion.

She found herself standing with several other roused Gryffindors, staring at the scene in front of them. James and Sirius were standing, facing each other, exhaustion and anger clearly written on their faces. Remus was standing next to James with his arms crossed, looking a little under the weather but livid as well. Peter was standing in what appeared to be No Man's Land, his expression unreadable.

"It doesn't matter who it was, Sirius, you shouldn't have done it! You know what could have happened!" James shouted, his eyes blazing.

"What's going on?" Lily asked a small group of people next to her, as Sirius made his retort. They shrugged, apparently having gotten down there just moments before her.

"And not only that," James was continuing, ignoring whatever Sirius had said in reply, "you exposed –" he broke off, for the first time noticing the crowd that had gathered. "Never mind, we'll talk later!" he barked and stormed up to his room. Remus shot Sirius a murderous look and left the portrait for the hospital wing. Sirius glared after James before following Remus' lead, only presumably to another location. Peter seemed like he was torn but eventually followed Sirius.

The onlookers went to finish a last hour of sleep, whispering amongst themselves. The Marauders had had a fight. A big one, by the looks of it. It was inconceivable!

Lily was soon left alone in the common room. Knowing she wouldn't get back to sleep anymore, she cautiously made her way up the staircase that led to the boys' rooms. She peered into the sixth year room but saw that only two beds were occupied. Wondering where James had gone, she continued up the stairs until she reached a large window at the very top of the tower. On the window seat sat James, staring out, his expression still furious.

"James?" she said quietly.

"What?" he snapped, turning his head. When he saw Lily his face softened. "Oh, it's you. Sorry. Come here." He held out his hand and she took it, sitting down opposite him on the seat.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I take it you were one of the people who saw?" he said, grimacing slightly.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Nobody knows what was going on though."

"It's just…Sirius did something really stupid, is all. Something that could have gotten S – someone really hurt."

"Does it have to do with Moony?"

"Yeah."

Lily paused for a second. She hadn't told him that she knew about Remus or Sirius.

"Does it have to do with Remus being a werewolf?" she asked hesitantly.

James eyes widened.

"Wh – what did you say?" he stammered. She dropped his gaze. She felt almost guilty for not telling him sooner. "How do you know?" he whispered when she didn't answer him.

"I just kind of put two and two together. I mean you and Sirius are Animagi – oh, yeah, I know about him too – but anyway, you two are Animagi and then once after the full moon I saw Remus in the hospital. And then it happened again and there was this chapter in our Defense Against the Dark Arts book about werewolves and I read it and it all just kind of…fit. And I guess…I mean, is Peter an Animagus too?"

James slowly nodded.

"If you figured it out," he said eventually. "What if other people do too?"

"I don't think you have to worry about that," she told him quickly. "I know you guys so well that it's easy for me to see if your behavior changes and things like that."

"You – you won't tell anyone, right?"

"Of course not!" Lily said earnestly. "I would never do that. You know I wouldn't." She took his hand and stroked it with her thumb. "Look, whatever this thing is with Sirius…you guys will figure it out. You two can get over anything. I mean, how long have you known each other? Ages. It'll all work out, you'll see." She gave him a reassuring smile and stood up, pulling him with her. "Now, what do you say we get dressed and then…I'll do my best to cheer you up."

He grinned.

"Oh really?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and walking down the steps. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

As they reached James' door she put her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss.

"You'll see," she murmured against his lips and went down the rest of the steps and back to her room.

She had acted as confident as possible but the truth was, she was terrified. She suddenly felt like she was ready – ready, ready – and it couldn't have come at a stranger time. It was 6:30 in the morning, her having just woken up and him having been with a werewolf all night. Maybe, she mused as she was getting dressed, it was that she felt like she had no secrets from him. She felt a closeness she hadn't felt before. Suddenly, with a gasp, she was aware of another feeling that she hadn't known was there. She was in love. Not the kind of love that they already shared. It was the kind of love that was formed, not out of pure feelings, but out of experiences; it was formed out of the closeness that she and James shared, and the intimacy. It was the love that makes a person certain they will spend the rest of their lives with the one they love.

Lily stood at her dresser, a shirt clutched in her hand above the open drawer. She was in love. In love! She couldn't believe it.

She finished getting dressed as quickly as possible and raced out of her room. James was already waiting for her in the common room. He smiled when he saw her and wrapped his arms around her.

"What do you want to do?" he murmured against her ear. His hot breath tickled her neck.

"Dunno," she said, closing her eyes and leaning against him. This felt so perfect, so right. She had to tell him now; she felt like she couldn't hold it in any longer. She pulled her head back and looked at his warm, hazel eyes.

"James," she said softly. "I want to tell you something. If I don't I feel like I'm going to – to burst or something. I want you to know, so badly. I want you to know…I love you, James. I really, really love you." She could see something light up in his eyes; something which had been fury just a short while before but was now something entirely different.

"I love you too, Lily," he said with a smile. Then they were kissing, arms wrapped around each other, pouring every feeling into that one kiss. Of all the times Lily had thought that one was her best kiss ever this topped them all. She knew they were meant to be together, and she knew they would be forever.

The kiss ended gently and Lily realized where she wanted to go. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the common room, to the only place in Hogwarts that didn't show up on the Marauder's Map.

Breakfast was a rather awkward affair. James and Lily arrived a little late and James' good mood was immediately ruined when he saw Sirius. The latter was sitting quietly and occasionally talking to Peter, who was looking nervously at Remus. For his part, Remus was only talking to Jenna and Ylan, both of whom looked very confused at this situation. James and Lily joined the group, James ignoring Sirius. Lily shrugged, feigning innocence, when Jenna and Ylan asked her what was going on.

The rest of breakfast passed by like this. James and Remus wouldn't even look at Sirius, and vice versa, while Peter sat uncomfortably between them.

Classes were quite the same; James and Remus sat at tables with Ylan, Jenna, and Lily, while Sirius dragged Peter off to a table with other classmates.

By now, word had spread of the Marauders' fight and everyone would look from James to Sirius, as if expecting another blowout.

After Transfiguration, James gave Lily a kiss on the cheek and stalked off to Divination by himself. During class he sat at a table with Gregory Thomas, one of their roommates. Sirius partnered with Daniel Robins, a Hufflepuff. In Charms, which Peter alone didn't take, Sirius was partnered with Holly Fisher, a Ravenclaw girl with dark brown hair and olive green eyes. Normally Sirius might have struck up a conversation (having gotten over the disastrous date with Amanda) but on this day he was too distracted.

It was a very long and tense next few weeks; the Marauders were split. Although Peter tried to repair the damage his efforts were in vain. And so, the train ride home for summer break was terrible. James and Remus sat in a compartment with Lily and Jenna. Ylan had gone off to find Matthew and Peter was stuck miserably with Sirius and a bunch of fourth year Hufflepuffs. It wasn't being with Sirius that he minded – it was the fact that their tight knit group was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about it.

At the station, Sirius wished Peter and the girls a happy holiday and left with his father, not so much as glancing at James or Remus. James barely noticed, however, as he was about to meet Lily's parents for a second time – only this time it was a much different situation.

"Mom, Dad!" Lily called as she spotted them. They smiled as she walked over with James. "You remember James."

"Of course!" Marianne Evans said. "I seem to remember Lily mentioning a little something about you in one of her letters as well." Mrs. Evans' eyes twinkled and Lily blushed.

"Yeah, well…yeah," she said. James grinned. At that moment he heard someone call his name and turned to see his mother rushing over.

"James!" she said and gave him a hug. "I hope you're not still mad about the Order?"

"Not too much," he said, smiling.

"Good, I'm glad. Oh, Marianne! Richard! How nice to see you again. And you too Lily, I've heard quiet a lot about you lately." Lily blushed again.

"Well," said Richard Evans, "I guess we'll leave you two to say goodbye. Let me just grab your things, Lily." He took hold of the handle of her trolley and began pushing it away. Mrs. Potter took James' and followed Mr. Evans, talking excitedly with Mrs. Evans.

"Well, that was sufficiently awkward," James said, grinning as he took Lily's hand.

"Just a little," she laughed. They began walking slowly. They reached the doors of the station and realized they couldn't delay their goodbye any longer. Leaning down, James gave Lily a warm, passionate kiss and then took her outside.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other this summer," he said, glancing at their parents, who were talking amiably.

"I hope so," Lily said. With a final quick kiss they parted and walked over to their parents.

"Oh, ready to go?" asked Mrs. Evans. Lily nodded. "All right, well, we'll see you sometime, Julia. Take care. Goodbye, James!"

"Bye Mrs. Evans, Mr. Evans," James said. He and his mother walked away, talking about the school year. Lily and her parents climbed into their car and Lily was pulled back into the Muggle world.

It was August. So far, James thought, this had been the best summer of his life. He and Lily had both turned seventeen at school and now could both use their magic at home. They had passed their Apparition tests as well, making it easier to keep in touch. They would often find various new spells and practice them at James' house, so they wouldn't bother Petunia.

Remus had passed his Apparition test as well, along with Ylan and Sirius. During the second month of break Remus had finally forgiven Sirius when the latter had come to his house to apologize. James, on the other hand, had had no contact with Sirius at all.

It was a rainy day and Lily was at the Potter house again. She and James were practicing turning each other's hair different colors, as well as doing certain other things. When Mrs. Potter came home from work that night she found the two curled up on the couch, watching a movie.

"Hi Lily!" she called.

"Hi Mrs. Potter!" Lily said brightly.

"Are you staying for dinner tonight, dear?"

"Oh, no thank you, I can't. It's Petunia's birthday today," Lily explained. Mrs. Potter nodded and disappeared down the hall.

"Petty's birthday?" James inquired, using his special name for Petunia.

"Yeah. I have to be there at eight for dinner."

"Lily?" James said, looking at his watch.

"Yeah?"

"You know it's 8:05 right now?"

"What!?" she shrieked and jumped up. "I have to go, I'll see you later."

"Bye. Have fun," James said amusedly as she turned on the spot and disappeared. James continued to flip through the channels for a little while until a knock on the door resounded through the house.

He got up, walked through the huge Entrance Hall to the oak double doors, and pulled one open. There stood Sirius with a rucksack hanging off one shoulder. They stared at each other. Sirius' hair was soaking wet as the rain continued to pour down on him and his face held a miserable, remorseful look. James looked at him, not saying anything.

"I – I ran away," Sirius said hoarsely. Something happened, then, without any other words being spoken, and they both stepped forward to embrace each other like brothers.